Treat Me Right
by Sparkling Amethyst
Summary: Aspiring journalist Bella Swan doesn't have time to search for love, but she wouldn't mind if love found her amidst the plethora of stressors she's balancing day-to-day. Dr. Edward Cullen has just returned from his residency. Where Bella feels too many emotions, Edward doesn't feel enough. A story of two people finding each other, not knowing they needed finding in the first place.
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note: I've been away from Fanfiction for quite some time. I don't really know how I got back here, but here I am. Fanfiction is where my writing first found a home, and I am so beyond excited to be returning.**

 **This story is something that's been in my mind for a while. I've found myself searching for stories to read that are just like it, but I've never found one. Toni Morrison once said that if there's a story you want to read that hasn't been written yet, then it's your job to write it. So here I am.**

 **Thanks for joining me.**

* * *

Sitting in a lecture hall that seats 147 students usually makes Bella Swan feel right at home. Her pale gray sweatshirt and average-fitting jeans have never attracted much attention, especially from college twenty-somethings in an intro class that is most commonly used to fill the "philosophy" column on their Distribution of Credits spreadsheet.

But in truth, Bella has never felt more out of place in her life.

"What can we take away from this reading, then?" Dr. Lister asks from the podium at the bottom of the theater-like hall. "What is Kant arguing for here - and more importantly, why is he arguing it?"

In front of Bella, three rows of students stare at him wordlessly, and five more rows echo that silence behind her. The girl sitting next to her has her headphones in, having thread the wire up through her sleeve and out from her shoulder. A vague, soft sound of pencils scraping against paper whispers around the room as everyone copies from the presentation, ignoring their professor's words entirely.

Bella leans over her notebook, blue pen in hand, scribbling every word before Dr. Lister changes the PowerPoint slide and the bullet points are gone forever. This class is kicking her ass, and they haven't even taken the midterm yet. She isn't familiar with this feeling of confusion, the complete lack of understanding that she feels when she listens to philosophy lectures. She has no idea what the difference between Utilitarianism and Kantianism is. She has no idea where the boundary is between ethics and logic, if there even is a boundary at all.

For Bella, a student who's lowest grade on her college transcript is a B after five and a half semesters (and that was, of course, only because she got the flu during Fall 2015 and never quite caught up in Calculus 001), Dr. Lister's class was threatening her GPA -

and her chances at a good graduate program.

Dr. Lister is apparently finished with waiting for a response. He glances at his watch. "Perhaps I'll leave you with that today," he says. "Food for thought, and what not. On Thursday, we'll be having a guest speaker. Dr. Carlisle Cullen of Harborview Medical Center will be here to talk to you about the use of embryonic stem cell research to treat things like syphilis and muscular dystrophy, and I'll be giving you a quiz on the ethical questions that come into play here."

Notebooks flick closed, backpacks zip, and students stand before he's even shutt his laptop.

Bella packs her things, carefully placing her blue notebook behind the green one she'd already used that morning. Her textbook, smaller than her notebooks in width and height, returns to its spot in front of them.

"This topics paper isn't due until, like, next Tuesday, right?" Headphones Girl asks as she stands. One earbud falls from its perch as she turns her head to meet Bella's gaze.

Bella reaches into the front pocket of her bag and opens a pocket-sized planner, complete with color-coded due dates and homework assignments. "Uh, next Wednesday, actually. It's an online submission."

Her lecture neighbor walks away, not bothering to thank her. Bella tries not to let it bother her.

The sun is shining through the windows, but it's unexpectedly chilly when Bella gets outside. She wraps her scarf around her neck. Its gray color doesn't quite match that of her sweatshirt.

"I need a coffee," comes an urgent voice from her left. Jessica Stanley is leaning against the brick pillar that holds the University of Washington's school plague.

"The food court is that way," Bella says, pointing.

But Jessica is already walking towards the parking lot. She passes her own car, a silver Ford Fusion, and tosses her backpack into the backseat. Before Bella even has her car keys in hand, she's yanking on the passenger door's handle impatiently. "I have an hour and a half until my O'chem lab starts," she calls.

The lights on Bella's red Buick Encore blink as she unlocks it, and her friend is already fixing her lipstick in the mirror behind the visor when she gets inside. Bella sighs. "What happened this time?"

"What?"

"With Mike. What happened this time?"

Jessica stares down at her hands, twisting her fingers in her lap. "He's not transferring yet."

"I thought he bought an apartment in Seattle."

"He did," she says. " _We_ did."

"So he's just going to leave you with the rent for a whole semester?"

Jessica turns her head to stare out the window, biting her lip. Two cars drive by on their way to the parking lot's exit. "He's doing his best," she says. "I guess."

Bella carefully backs out of her parking space, head turned at an awkward angle as she strains to see behind her. "Jess, your rent is six hundred per month. How many more hours can you pick up at Red Apple before your grades start to slip?"

"I know."

Bella pauses, shifting the Encore into drive. She stares at her friend for a moment, analyzing the crease that's formed between Jessica's eyebrows. Bella tries to remember a time when stress wasn't written all over her face. "I know you don't want to hear me say it again," Bella says, "so I won't. But I'm thinking it."

Bella has lost track of the number of times she's suggested that Jessica end this one-sided relationship. She thought she'd finally gotten through to her when Mike Newton missed his girlfriend's high school graduation because a group of his friends from Wichita State University wanted to have a drunken weekend in Florida, but Jessica picked him up from Sea-Tac Airport when his flight landed the following Monday at 5 a.m.

Then came the promise of transferring back to the Seattle area to finish his computer science degree.

"I just have to wait until the lease is up on my apartment," Mike said at Jessica's backyard grad party in Forks. "Then, I'm back, baby."

As the disappointments racked up over the past two years, Bella always crossed her fingers that Jessica will come to her senses, realize that she's being taken advantage of - and worse, taken for granted. They're Juniors now, degree audits scheduled and Senior internship applications submitted. And they're both still waiting.

As they turn onto Ninth Avenue, Bella spies a parking spot a block away, but a red light forces her to break. The lunchtime traffic is always bad in downtown Seattle. Jessica jumps out and dashes onto the sidewalk when all four lights turn red and give pedestrians the right-of-way, and she's already putting quarters in the parking meter when Bella shifts into park.

The line at Cream and Crumbs is nearly out the door, but they wouldn't dream of going anywhere else. There's something cozy about the atmosphere of a privately-owned coffee shop, something warmer than the hain coffee store down the street. The bell on top of the door rings as they enter, and Sue Clearwater looks over at them from behind the counter, where she's instructing her newest employee on using the register.

As they inch forward in line, Bella's phone rings in her bag, and Jessica gives her a knowing smile. "Tell her I say hi, okay?"

Bella grins. "Order me an iced latte, please? With -"

"Sugar, but no flavor," Jessica finishes. She gives a thumbs-up. "Gotcha."

Bella's phone is already to her ear, and she heads for the exit. The bench right outside the door is empty, so she takes a seat as the green light in front of the shop turns yellow.

"Tell me all about it," her mother says before Bella can offer a greeting. Renee Dywer has never been one to beat around the bush.

Bella plays dumb. "All about what?"

"The interview!" Renee hollers. "I'm choking from the suspense! Clue me in!"

Bella watches as an elderly woman walks her pug across the street. "Well, I'm trying not to get my hopes up," she says, "but honestly, I think it was the best interview of my life."

"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!"

"She was really impressed with my resume," Bella says. "She said they only have two openings, but I really think we made a connection." Bella leans back, thinking about how welcome this caffeine will be. After an 8 a.m. interview with the layout editor of the _Seattle Metropolitan_ magazine, she'd sped quickly to her 9:30 a.m. lecture, followed by a 10:30 class and a staff meeting with the students at _The Daily_ , the University of Washington's student-run campus newspaper, for which Bella serves as the editor of the Features section. After two years of juggling a double-major in Communications and Journalism, Bella is finally taking steps towards her career.

"When will you hear if you got it?"

"She said she'll call me by Monday."

"Oh, Bella, I'm so proud of you!" her mother says. "Now, everytime you call me, my heart's gonna jump out of my chest, thinking you're calling to tell me you got the job. I can't wait to tell Phil."

Bella bites her lip. "He's not there?"

"He just ran out to get some groceries," Renee answers. In the background, Bella hears a microwave beeping. Her mother breathes deeply into the phone, presumably as she heaves herself out of a chair, and her breath stays shallow for a few moments.

Bella closes her eyes, scolding herself for allowing it to be so easy to forget her mother's condition. "How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Renee says, but she's still out of breath. "Oh, shit. Hold on, sweetie. I have to put the phone down. My lunch is ready. I have to take this cannula off so I can get to the kitchen."

"What do you mean, take it off?"

But her mother has already set her cell phone down, and Bella hopes it doesn't get eaten by the couch cushions. For a minute and 43 seconds - Bella counts - the other line is silent. Then, "Okay, I'm back," and heavy breathing.

"Mom," Bella scolds. "How many times do I have to tell you not to take your oxygen off? Why couldn't you wear it into the kitchen?"

"Phil accidentally ran over my 50-foot tubing with the vacuum yesterday," her mother answers. She gives a little laugh, but it's with shallow breaths. "He felt so bad. OxyPal is sending me a new set, but I have to use the 25-foot spare tubing until tomorrow or Thursday."

"Mom."

"I know, I know. It was only for a minute, though. I'm sitting down now."

"When's your next appointment?"

Renee sighs. "I go for chemo again on Friday." Lung cancer has been attacking her for seven months, and while two months ago remission was in sight, now the doctors aren't so sure.

The door to Cream and Crumbs opens, and Jessica emerges, double-fisting. She sits down next to Bella and peers up at the sky, eyeing the dark clouds that seem to threaten rain. She hands Bella her styrofoam, and Bella steals a peek at the clock on her phone. "Please be careful, Mom," she says. "Especially when Phil isn't home. I don't want you falling down the steps again."

"Oh, honey, I learned my lesson the first time," Renee says. "I'm not strong enough to take the stairs on my own anymore. I know that."

Bella stares at an ant crawling across the sidewalk. A driver honks angrily as a yellow Beetle takes too long to make a left turn. "I love you," she says. "Please take care of yourself."

"I love you, too, Bella. Don't worry about me so much."

Bella wishes that Phoenix wasn't so far from Seattle. "I'm coming down for Thanksgiving," she says. "Charlie is going fishing with Billy Black, anyways."

"I can't wait!" Renee hollers. "I miss you, sweetie. But I'm so proud of you. You're doing what you love."

Bella's eyes are stinging when they hang up. She takes a sip of her latte.

"How is she?" Jessica asks.

"She's in a lot of pain, and she can't breathe," Bella says. "Not that she would ever actually say that. I can just tell."

"Do you regret staying at UDub?"

"No," Bella answers. "But yes, at the same time. But I wouldn't have had the opportunity at Arizona State, and she didn't want me to miss out." Bella looks down at her hands. "She's selfless. And I guess I'm selfish."

"Oh, you are not," Jessica says. "You're getting ready for a career, Bella. You're taking care of yourself. I know your mom, and she's relieved to know that you can stand on your own feet, without her or Charlie or anyone supporting you. Knowing that you can take care of yourself is comforting to her."

"Yeah," Bella says. "But every time she calls, I worry more."

On Thursday, Bella finds herself in her usual Ethics seat at 10:23 a.m. Headphones Girl was already there when Bella arrived, making Bella almost skip her row because she automatically looks for the first empty row in the middle to find her spot, as that has historically been the case all semester.

As she pulls her notebook and pencil out of her backpack, she hears Headphones Girl talking to the blonde who sits behind her. "I heard he's bringing his son," she's whispering. "He went here for his undergrad degree. Edward Cullen. He's the redhead in those photos outside the chemistry labs in the Life Sciences Building."

"What pictures?" the blonde gasps. "I haven't seen them!"

"His senior project was that thing with stem cell research on the paralyzed lab rats," Headphones Girl answers. "It was nominated for a Nobel Prize. He should have one that, if you ask me."

Bella pretends to write in her notebook so it doesn't appear that she's listening in. "So, is he staying in Seattle now?" the blonde girl asks.

Headphones Girl shrugs. "I heard he's joining his dad's medical practice. But his dad is a surgeon, so who knows."

On the table, Bella's phone vibrates, and she peers down at the notification. Angela Webber has sent an email to her _Daily_ email address, asking for an extension on her feature about the newly hired advisor in the administration office. Bella quickly opens her phone and begins typing a response, but Dr. Lister's voice echoes around the room.

"Good morning," he says, pounding his hand on the wooden podium. "Today, we welcome our guest speaker, Dr. Carlisle Cullen of Harborview Medical Center. Please give him your full attention, as there will be a quiz on his discussion."

Bella, still staring at her phone, doesn't look up as the doors to the lecture hall open behind her. Everyone turns to stare at the visitor, and dress shoes click as someone descends the wooden stairs.

"Thank you for having me today," a pleasant male voice calls out. His words echo around the large and absolutely silent room. "I'm honored for having received the invitation. I've always enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experiences with young minds."

Out of the corner of Bella's eye, she sees a white lab coat drift past her. She finishes her email and looks up to see pale blonde hair, almost white, on the back of the doctor's head. He's a tall man, and he's very skinny, Bella thinks. He's carrying a briefcase in his left hand and shaking hands with a boy at the end of the first row with his right. "I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen," he introduces himself. "I've been a surgeon for thirty years, and my specialty is cardiothoracic surgery." He reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns around.

Bella is sure he's had some sort of plastic surgery at some point in his life. His facial structure is flawless, and his skin is the most even shade of pale cream that she's ever seen. His eyes, bright blue, Bella can see from several rows back. Underneath his lab coat, he wears a pale pink dress shirt with a white and burgundy tie, and a blue hospital badge hangs from the pocket.

"Your professor tells me that you've been talking about genetics and the moral obligations that scientists in the medical field are subject to in their work," Dr. Cullen says. He places his briefcase on the vacated podium and shakes Dr. Lister's hand as the professor steps to give the floor to his guest. "He's asked me to talk to you today about embryonic stem cell research. I do have some background on this topic, but I thought I would bring along someone with a more modern experience in this department than my own."

In a way that was both too perfect to have been unrehearsed and too casual to be scripted at the same time, the lecture hall doors opened once again, and a different pair of dress shoes clicked against the floor as it closed.

The room of 147 students lift their previously drooping, bored heads, turning collectively to stare at some spot behind Bella. She feels a blush start to creep up her neck, feeling uncomfortable that she's suddenly in everyone's line of vision.

"Oh, my god," Headphones Girl whispers. "There he is. Oh, my _god_."

"Many of you might know of my son," Carlisle continues, raising a hand to the upper part of the staircase that runs between Bella's section and the one to the far left. "He's a University of Washington alum. I think you have some fond memories here, don't you, son?"

"Absolutely," a charming voice says right above Bella's head. "Through grad school and my residency, I often missed the hours I spent in the laboratories here. The atmosphere is so much more relaxed."

"Dr. Edward Cullen, pathologist," his father introduces, waving his hand towards his son and breaking into a prideful smile.

The second doctor finally makes it past Bella, and she peeks up to analyze him. He does, indeed, have red hair, styled messily. He wears a lab coat that is much like his father's, except obviously newer. He is taller than his father, a fact that is obvious before the two are even standing next to each other. Bella isn't so sure about the involvement of plastic surgery in Dr. Carlisle Cullen's appearance, now, as she looks at his son's near-perfect bone structure and similarly even creamy skin tone. He's pale, though not quite as pale as his father, with a small rose tint to his cheeks, like he's been walking in the cold for too long.

Dr. Edward Cullen keeps his hands in his pockets as he descends the stairs, not engaging with students as his father did. "Embryonic stem cell research," he calls out to the room. "Well, then. Let's get started."

* * *

 **10/21/18: I'm anticipating bi-weekly updates through November, and then I'm aiming for weekly updates after that, but we'll see. Life happens, but it's good to have goals.**

 **If you're hanging around, thank you. I appreciate you.**

 **See you in Chapter Two.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Author's Note:**

 **I did not have any intention of letting the first chapter of Treat Me Right stand on its own for a month and a half, but unfortunately life had its own plan for me. You know the drill - a harsh graduate program, a landlord, and a fiance who insists that he just does _not_ remember how to open the dishwasher and empty it. Not excuses, just an explanation.**

 **Does it help to say that I've been thinking about what storyline Treat Me Right is going to have ever since I sent out Chapter One?**

 **As the semester winds down for the holiday break, I expect more time to write, and quicker updates. Fanfiction is a not-so-guilty pleasure for me, one that I turn to when I need to de-stress and step away from my original fiction, which often times needs a break, too. Original fiction novels are hard, guys. They don't tell you that in undergrad.**

 **Anyways, I hope I still have some of you on board. I hope I pick up some of you on the way. Either way, here's this chapter that I've been thinking about writing for quite a while.**

* * *

Edward Cullen is beautiful.

He lets his father do most of the talking for the introduction of their presentation. Though he stands off to the side while Carlisle remains in the center of the floor, Bella is fairly certain that he doesn't go unnoticed by anyone.

As the lecture on science ethics progresses, Bella quickly finds that she, like every other female in the lecture hall, can't look away. If blinking wasn't automatic, she would have forgot to do so by now.

Edward leans against the podium, casually flipping through the pages in Carlisle Cullen's plain black binder. He nods his head every so often as his father speaks and makes gestures to the presentation being projected onto the board, but he never bothers to look up at the PowerPoint.

Bella can't decide if he's arrogant or uninterested, or perhaps just preoccupied.

"So here," Dr. Carlisle Cullen is saying, "you can see that the embryonic stem cells are multiplying much more rapidly and successfully than the adult stem cells. You can understand, then, why scientists prefer to use embryos."

"They're more easily obtained, too." Edward lifts his head and starts scanning the room, and everyone around Bella sits up straighter, including herself.

Bella can't remember the last time she wanted a man to notice her as badly as she wants Edward Cullen's attention. Actually,she can't remember the last time she was interested in dating at all, but she certainly wouldn't mind a date with him.

"Adult stem cells come mainly from bone marrow," Edward continues. "Not easy to extract for the researcher, and not fun to provide for the donor."

Carlisle takes a few steps back, a symbolic handing-over of the floor. His eyes are wide with pride.

Edward steps away from the podium for the first time in almost forty minutes and shoves his hands in his pockets. "How many of you have ever donated bone marrow?"

All heads whip around to scan the room for volunteers, but only one student in a room of over 400 raises his hand. It's a skinny blond boy in the third row to Bella's left side.

"You have?" Edward asks, clearly surprised. "And what was the experience like?"

The boy's shoulders drop. "Painful," he says. "It was the longest needle I've ever seen in my life. But it was for my mom's bone marrow transplant. She has cancer."

Bella knows she'll likely never speak to this boy, but she's left oddly uncomfortable by his admission. In these classrooms, she finds comfort in the ability to forget her personal struggles. At the University of Washington, Bella is a number in a sea of students. Several times a day, for fifty minutes at a time, Bella can blend in and be normal instead of the twenty-year-old girl who's mother is dying from lung cancer. Hearing this boy speak of a problem that very closely resembles her own conflict at home, though, makes her realize that being in a classroom doesn't block all of that out like she wants it to.

Edward takes a moment to express his sympathy for the boy but quickly moves on. "People don't want to donate bone marrow. We can't force people to donate bone marrow. But people _do_ donate unused embryos from in vitro fertilization." As he speaks, he walks a straight line down the front of the room, parallel with the long table that makes up the first row of seats. His dress shoes click against the linoleum. "This is where the ethical debate comes in, and it is at the very core of the abortion debate that is currently dividing many people in this country." He reaches the end of the room and turns to look at his father, resting against the wall.

Carlisle nods. "We aren't going to ask for your individual views. It's not our place to have an abortion debate in this classroom. All we want is to show you the science behind this stem cell research, as it has become quite the . . . hot-button topic, I suppose."

The lecture continues in much of the same way. Bella gets the feeling that Edward is really in the driver's seat in this presentation, and Carlisle is just a student-driver. Or perhaps, Edward is Enterprise and Carlisle is renting a Ford Escape.

When the class finally ends, students don't exit as quickly as usual, and eyes linger on the Cullen doctors as they stand in a semi-circle with Dr. Lister, chatting and grinning with crossed arms.

Bella lingers for a moment, too, but her phone starts to vibrate in her back pocket. She pulls it out to glance at it, and her stomach drops. Her mother doesn't usually call for another half an hour. She answers.

Renee's voice is stronger than it has been all week. "Bella! You'll never guess."

"Guess what?" Bella starts climbing the stairs towards the auditorium's exit.

"You'll never guess what happened!"

Bella thinks about the happiness that's projecting through her mother's tone, a mood she hasn't heard in quite a while. For once, Renee sounds genuine instead of put-on-my-best-happy-voice. "Is it something good?" she asks.

"I was accepted into a new clinical trial!" her mother hollers.

Bella squints in the sun as she tries to locate her car, lanyard dangling from her wrist. "What kind of trial?"

"It's this new form of chemo," Renee answers. "ChemoHide. It's chemo like I've always had, but it's a different chemical mixture."

"And it's a clinical trial?"

"Oh, it isn't quite brand new," Renee says, "but it's different. Pretty modern."

Bella reaches her car and dumps her backpack in the passenger seat, switching her phone to the other ear when she has two free hands. Jessica's silver Fusion is still parked next to hers from earlier in the day, so she leans against her driver-side door to wait for her friend. "Mom. You don't need a clinical trial."

"What do you mean?"

"Clinical trials are supposed to be for people who have no other options," Bella says. "People who have no shot with radiation or any of the normal chemos or surgery."

Renee is silent for a minute, and when she speaks, her voice is almost muted. Bella can hear the tears clogging her throat. "Bella, honey. That's me. I'm one of those people."

"No, you're not."

"Bella," her mother insists. "Yes, I am. I'm running out of options. Dr. Gregory says that ChemoHide is the best option for me moving forward to give me as much time as I can have."

"Stop saying things like that."

"Honey." Renee stops to blow her nose, and Bella wonders how much blood is in the tissue when she's done. "We're done trying to get rid of my cancer. We're just trying to hold it back as long as we can at this point - so I can see you graduate, so I can see you get married -"

"So my kids can go to their grandma's funeral?" Bella regrets saying it the moment she hears the words leaving her mouth, but it's a thought she's hidden for a while.

Her mother's pause is longer now, but when she responds, her voice is contained and careful. "I want to see my grandchildren, yes. I assure you, Bella, I'm not trying to stay alive so I can make my grandchildren suffer through a funeral service. Sue me for wanting to see you start your career _and_ your family."

"I shouldn't have said that."

"No," Renee says. "You shouldn't have. I thought you would be happy for me."

"You're giving up."

"I gave up a long time ago, Bella. I just wanted you to think I hadn't," her mother answers quietly. "I wanted you to go about your life at school and be successful and not feel guilty because I'm down here and you're up there. But I can't pretend anymore, Bella."

To her right, Bella sees the doors to the Life Sciences Building open, and Carlisle and Edward Cullen walk outside. Bella tries not to notice how the sunlight makes Edward's red hair even more fiery-hot. They stop at the edge of the sidewalk, exchange a few words, and turn in separate directions.

Bella isn't the only one watching Edward walk to his shiny silver Volvo, but Edward doesn't seem to notice the eyes that follow him. His car looks like he's just driven it off of the dealership's lot that day.

"Please don't be mad at me," Renee begs in Bella's ear. "I'm your mother. It's my instinct to protect you in any way that I can."

Bella looks down at her shoes. "I know. I'm not mad at you." She sighs. "I'm mad at the universe."

"That sounds like the title of an amazing story," her mother answers. "Any news from _Seattle Mag_?"

"Not yet," Bella says. "Hopefully tomorrow."

"I'm praying for you," Renee says after a moment passes. "I know what this job would mean for you."

Bella wants to tell her how hard she's been praying, too, but suddenly it seems like she and her mother have been praying completely different prayers: one hopeful, and one desperate. "I just have to get through this semester with _The Daily_. It's been three weeks, and we've already had four reporters leave the staff. One kid just stopped showing up one day, out of nowhere."

"I have every faith in you, Bella. Success is unavoidable for you," Renee answers. "You will work until you achieve your goals, just like you always do, and everything will be fine."

Bella can, unfortunately, think of one problem that she cannot fix.

For two weeks, Bella's life is much the same. The copyeditor for _The Daily_ forgets her password for the paper's database three times, so Thomas in UDub's IT department knows Bella's voice by heart. She is assigned and completes two research papers, one comparing Argentina's democratic values to those of Cuba, and the other about Shakespeare's _Hamlet_. She eats (or tries to) three meals a day, and sometimes stops at Cream and Crumbs on her way to and from campus.

And then, as she parks her car one sunny but chilly Tuesday afternoon, she notices a sparkling, recently waxed silver Volvo parked outside of the Life Sciences Building.

The projector screen is pulled down when she walks into the lecture hall for Science Ethics, and Dr. Lister is seated off to the side, a notebook in hand. Edward Cullen leans casually against the podium, his attention on his laptop screen.

The clock strikes 10:30 a.m., and the young pathologist claps his hands together. "My father was scheduled to join you for your class on Thursday," he says, "but he's been called away for an unexpected conference in Michigan, and he won't be back until the weekend. Thursday didn't work for me, so here I am." He glances at Dr. Lister. "I apologize if you were looking forward to an ethics-centered lecture today, but I'm here to present some more science to you." He presses a key on his laptop, and a PowerPoint presentation appears. "My father put this together, so forgive me if I need to consult the screen too much. Now. Stem cell research."

Bella finds herself four bullet points behind within minutes, unable to focus on copying down the screen's content as Edward paces back and forth across the floor. She stares at his face, wishing he would make eye contact with her, but he finishes the lecture without having granted that wish.

"That's enough for today," Dr. Lister concludes as if he hasn't been typing on his cell phone for the whole lecture while Edward does his job.

Students aren't in as much of a rush to leave as they are when Lister teaches, but the hall empties quickly. Bella squints against the sun as she walks to her car, and she doesn't notice until her hand is on the door knob that another vehicle is blocking her way. A red Mercedes is idling perpendicular to her car, and its four-ways are on. A man, presumably the driver, is leaning against the trunk, staring at his cell phone. He's a taller guy, complete with an almost-shaved head of dark hair and muscles, muscles, muscles.

When the man hears Bella open her car door, he straightens. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, let me get this out of your way."

"Oh, no," Bella says, waving a hand in dismissal. "I'm not leaving yet. I'm waiting for a friend. Don't rush."

"I'll be gone in a second," the man answers. "I'm just waiting for my brother."

Bella climbs into her car, content to stay put until Jessica either shows up at the passenger side or sends a text saying that she's going home to FaceTime with Mike, but she isn't trapped very long.

Edward Cullen, briefcase in hand and sunglasses on, marches straight up to the red Mercedes after he exits the building. He doesn't notice Bella as he passes, already shaking his head at the other man.

She hears him call something to the stranger who's blocking her in as he approaches and cracks her window slightly so she can more properly eavesdrop.

"You're a nuisance," Edward is saying. "Why can't you just use your card?"

"It's maxed out til my last payment goes through," the man responds. "And you owe me twenty bucks, so I figured I'd collect it now."

"Remind me again why, exactly, I owe you twenty bucks?"

"Mom's birthday present. Remember? Alice already paid me for her third. And anyways, don't act like you're going to miss that twenty. You've got more money in your bank account than I have in student debt."

A puzzle piece falls into place, and Bella remembers an article she read about the Cullen family, one that Dr. Lister assigned before the Cullen doctors' first visit to the class. This must be Emmett, she thinks, the middle child of Carlisle and Esme, the only member of the family to avoid a career in medicine completely. Her phone vibrates on the passenger seat, but she's already straining to hear this conversation and doesn't take any chances at getting distracted and missing something. She wishes Edward would take a few steps forward so she could see his face in her rearview mirror.

"Take it," Edward says. "What do you need it for, anyways?"

"Rose wants to go on a goddamn date tonight."

"How terrible. Going out with your girlfriend, that's a crazy concept. I wonder where she got an idea like that."

"It's _Tuesday_ ," Emmett spits. "She has class tomorrow, so she won't even drink with me."

"I think you'll live," Edward responds. "I have to go. I have to be at the hospital in ten."

I hear a hand hit gently against the trunk of my car, and I turn around to see Emmett leaning down to peer in at me. "Hey, I'm moving now," he says. "Thanks for being cool."

Bella opens her door, ready to answer, just as Edward is walking by. He stops as her door swings open and blocks his path. For a second, bella just stares at his shoes, frightened to look up and have to say something to him. She has a gut feeling that forming a coherent sentence around Edward Cullen isn't an easy task.

"Sorry," she blurts.

Edward looks up from his phone to meet her gaze and places it in the coat pocket of his white lab coat. "Oh. No, it's no problem. I should be apologizing to you. I hope my brother didn't make you wait here too long."

Bella doesn't trust her voice, so she shakes her head. She starts to pull the door shut to give him enough room to pass by, keeping her eyes on the pavement as she does.

Edward takes a few steps, turning to squeeze between her door and the silver GMC parked next to her, but he stops before he passes the mirror. "You were in that lecture, weren't you?" he asks.

Bella freezes, hand still on the door handle, and whips her head up to stare at his face again. In the moment that it takes her to realize that Edward Cullen the Sexy Pathologist is _still_ speaking to her, his brother revs the engine of the red Mercedes and takes off.

Edward is watching her intently with patient eyes. "Lister's ethics class," he clarifies, tilting his head towards the building they'd been in together.

Bella's cell phone vibrates against the leather seat once again, this time repeatedly, a phone call that she doesn't even consider picking it up. "Um," she mumbles, "yeah. I was."

"You were there last time, too," he says.

Bella can hear her frantic heartbeat in her ears, and she squeezes her right thigh to keep her hand from shaking. Realizing that she might not have blended in as well as she thought leaves an anxious tension in her stomach. "I don't skip class," she finally says.

Edward nods. "What year are you?"

"I'm a junior."

"How old are you?"

Bella wants to ask why he's so curious, but the words won't come. "Twenty," she tells him honestly. And then, though she's unsure why, she adds, "I turn twenty-one in a month."

"What's your name?"

"Bella."

Edward's right eye crinkles as he gives her a crooked smile. "You know, presentations aren't something that they stress in Med school. I always hated them . . . but maybe not so much anymore." And with that, he turns on his heel, and his dress shoes click against the pavement as he walks away.

A rush of energy flows over her body, and she shoots out of her seat. When she speaks, though, she still hides behind her open car door. "There are over forty kids in that lecture," Bella says. "I didn't - uh - I mean, I didn't think you noticed me."

Edward keeps an even pace as he walks away but turns around to give her a glance. "Oh," he says, his lips pulling upwards, "I noticed you."

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm hoping to get Chapter Three up within a week or two. That's the goal, anyway.**

 **Please let me know what you think. Feedback is a huge motivator for me.**

 **See you in Chapter Three.**


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